U.S. interviewing Wall Street bankers to advise on GM IPO

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the US Treasury Department is interviewing Wall Street bankers to advise the government on an initial public offering of General Motors Co.

The paper identified that the firms who are in the running to get this advisory role include Greenhill & Co, Lazard Ltd. and Perella Weinberg Partners.

WSJ cited people familiar with these meetings; however, officials from the Treasury Department, GM, Greenhill and Lazard have yet to comment.

It can be recalled that GM emerged from a government-sponsored bankruptcy last July. The company had gotten a $50 billion government bailout that resulted to the US Treasury getting almost 61% ownership of the company while Canada and the province of Ontario own almost 12%.

Last month, CEO Ed Whitacre said that after meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an IPO could be possible later this year or in 2011.

Previously, Whitacre had withdrawn from a 2010 timeline that predecessor, Fritz Henderson, had spearheaded.

This Monday, GM is expected to release its first-quarter results. Executives have said privately that earnings will be very strong, including an operating profit.

The WSJ claims that an IPO could still be several months away at the earliest. Before the bankruptcy filing, GM shares had traded on the New York Stock Exchange. [via autonews]